Shelby Van Pelt Remarkably Bright Creatures

About the author:

When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t writing, she’s herding cats and wrangling children. Her debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, was a New York Times bestseller and a “Read with Jenna” Today show book club pick. In 2023, she was awarded the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from the Writer’s Center. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Van Pelt now lives in the Chicago area with her family.

About the book:

After Tova Sullivan’s husband dies, she begins working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in the Puget Sound over 30 years ago. As she works, Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. As his affection for Tova grows, Marcellus must use every trick his old, invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

CHECK OUT BOOK